Undead Citadel Review Summary

Despite positive reception, deep combat, and excellent physics, frequent bugs and crashes, poor graphics and optimization, plus collision issues hold it back.

Overall Positive Reception: Many reviewers describe the game as very good, excellent, enjoyable, and well worth its price. It is recommended and considered underrated.

Deep Combat Mechanics: Combat is the standout feature, featuring timing, positioning, and dynamic enemy reactions. The melee system feels like proper skirmishes that can become chaotic and brutal.

Excellent Physics System: The physics are consistently praised as good or excellent, with realistic weapon weight, inertia, and object interactions. Real-world arm movements translate directly into in-game strikes with satisfying impact.

Weapon Variety and Realism: A large arsenal of around 80 weapons, including swords, axes, maces, and throwables, each with distinct stats and usage styles. Thrown weapons fly and stick realistically.

Immersive Atmosphere and Sound: The dark fantasy setting, gothic aesthetic, and fitting sound design create a strong atmosphere. Environmental storytelling through relics and ruins adds depth.

Frequent bugs and crashes: Players encounter bugs like getting stuck, hard locks, soft crashes when picking up potions, black screens after reloading, and instant crashes after review prompts. Hand tracking loss causes death during important fights.

Poor graphics and optimization: Textures are extremely blurry, lighting is mediocre, and graphics are described as disgusting with low-poly weapon models. Optimization is lacking, with frame drops on high-end hardware and fake recommended specs.

Physics and collision bugs: Numerous physics issues include getting launched into the air when touching a sword, player hitbox being off by 0.5m, getting stuck in textures or walls, and falling off the map. Severed limbs stretch across the map and enemies pass through weapons during parries.

Weak story and characters: The story is short, not engaging, and lacks character development or complex lore. The protagonist screams about brothels then becomes devoid of personality, and humor feels like clinical reconstructions of jokes.

Unclear objectives and getting lost: No clear objective or on-screen indicators cause confusion, and it's easy to get lost in levels. Some buttons are well hidden, and puzzles often involve finding something in soupy visuals.

Weapon variety and durability: Around 80 weapons are available, including swords, axes, maces, and bows, each with stats and usage styles. Weapons have HP and can break, adding a durability system.

Physics sandbox and mod support: The game features a physics-based sandbox allowing goofy simulation, serious combat, or parkour. It also supports mods, enhancing creativity.

Belt-based inventory system: The inventory requires pulling potions and weapons from a belt, with a slot system for storing items. This immersive mechanic enhances VR realism.

Exploration and hidden collectibles: Players can explore ruins, houses, and levels with hidden doors, keys, buttons, and collectibles. Optional exploration adds depth.

VR physics-based melee combat: The game offers physics-driven melee combat built specifically for VR, with weapon handling and strikes that account for modeled characteristics. This includes two-handed weapon control.

Black screen loading issues: Players experience black screens after reloading, during loading, and before entering small houses. This can result in missing menus and interrupted gameplay.

Runs well on some PCs: Some players report the game runs without problems on their PC and is easy to run. Performance is generally stable across supported platforms with minor technical quirks.

Performance fluctuations and drops: Frame rates fluctuate significantly, dropping from 144 to 80 even on high-end hardware. Performance is described as terrible and unstable.

Poor optimization on capable PCs: The game runs poorly on systems far above the recommended specifications. Optimization is considered awful, with graphics and shader optimization needing improvement.

Crashes and soft locks: The game soft crashes when picking up potions and can crash instantly after the review prompt. These issues disrupt progression.

Overall positive recommendations: Many reviewers simply recommend the game, with some calling it great and on par with others in the genre. Despite downsides, cutting down undead is done well.

Good value for money: Multiple reviewers feel the game is easily worth the price and offers top value. Some suggest buying it on sale or from a merchant site if it seems expensive.

Highly recommended, try once: Some reviewers highly recommend the game and believe everyone should try it at least once. It is considered one of the best VR games by some.

Negative and refund reviews: Some reviewers cannot recommend the game and advise against buying it. One refunded and will wait for a proper discount.

Appeals to setting enthusiasts: Those interested in the medieval fantasy and undead setting will have fun with the game. It lets players step into a haunted medieval battlefield.

Endgame: 300.0h.

Players report immediate enjoyment from physics-based combat, but some find the story and mission structure repetitive and progression streamlined once weapon novelty fades.

Friction: Low enemy variety makes the story boring; Repetitive mission structure in extended sessions; Limited environmental diversity or narrative depth; Streamlined progression after weapon variety novelty fades.

Soulslike Difficulty Seeker: Seeks demanding sword combat, learns enemy patterns, and looks forward to multiplayer dueling. Motivation: Mastering difficult combat and proving themselves against Soulslike-style challenges. Stance: buy.

Mod-Driven Sandbox Tinkerer: Installs mods, experiments with physics interactions, and customizes the experience beyond the base game. Motivation: Extending the game's fun and replayability through mods and sandbox experimentation. Stance: buy.

Physics-Fighting Hidden-Gem Evangelist: Engages with physics-driven combat and recruits others to the game's niche fighting experience. Motivation: Supporting and promoting an underrated physics-based fighting game with upcoming multiplayer. Stance: buy.

Lacks story and RPG mechanics: The game is criticized for having no story or RPG mechanics, though other feedback notes narration, a plot, and a concise story about Ser Anvil Caphus. Opinions on narrative depth are mixed.

Compared to Blade & Sorcery: Several reviewers compare the game to Blade & Sorcery, with some claiming its ideas were taken from it and others finding Blade & Sorcery better. The game is also noted to be different from Blade & Sorcery.

Multiplayer and co-op anticipated: Reviewers mention that a multiplayer mode is planned, and one reviewer looks forward to online co-op. This suggests community interest in multiplayer features.

Trailer may mislead: The official gameplay trailer is compared to the Rainbow Six Siege E3 trailer because both look different from the actual game. Reviewers warn that the trailer is designed to sell and can be misleading.

Versions have different strengths: Different game versions offer different strengths, such as mod availability, performance, and combat feel. This indicates platform-specific trade-offs.